Disaster comes in all shapes and sizes

Just when you start to get comfortable and life begins to mellow out, a tsunami of reality washes over your unsuspecting butt and takes you out to sea.



Last week, I suffered a hard drive crash. Now, most responsible folks would have made sure that all important files were backed up and I, being very responsible did so. But, the Gods of Karma weren't going to let that stop them. I backed up records, photos and documents but not settings, favorites, and etc. Also, it had been a couple of months since the last backup so everything from that point is gone too.

A friend of mine told me that regardless of how prepared one is, a HD crash is devastating. He's obsessive about his backup and re-images his OS every month. He still lost valuable documents when his crash happened.

So... here's the goods... I am going forward from this point. I'm not going to fret about what was lost or where I can find my shit. If I need it, I'll look for it. If I never need it again, then it's good that its gone.

Still... It sucks big.

Update: Apparently, as I was reconfiguring my Windows Mail, unbeknownst to me, my security protocols were taken down (Gee, thanks Microsoft!) So, I guess I caught an email bug that sent out a bunch of links in my name. If you received an email from me between May 1st through 20th, delete it. My apologies for this inconvenience. I hope these spams didn't lead to a virus or such. Hopefully, now I have all my securities in place and can better control my outbox.

God, I hate this shit!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

From every rooftop, from every street corner... shout!

I listened to this today. I went back and read the transcript as well. He's been there for us since 1989 with his movie "Roger & Me" about the heartbreak of GM closing his hometown's auto plant and moving it to Mexico. He's fat, loud and not very good looking but he's one of the most beautiful Americans there are.

Here's what he had to say in Madison on Saturday, March 5th.

Watch live streaming video from theuptake at livestream.com

There is nothing more important than this message. This should be on the lips of every American worker. This isn't Fox News propaganda or Teabagger bullshit - this is real. We either give in to our Corporate Overlords or we fight back.

America is NOT broke. We blinked and let them steal our future, now we take it back!

So Mote It Be!
David A.

Posted without comment...

So Mote It Be,
David A.

What goes around...

On Wisconsin!

I can't emphasize enough how important it is for the Democrats in Madison to hold their ground. This is the long haul, folks. The Repugs are playing their big hand and they are all in. Il Duce Walker won't budge. He can't. He's standing on the edge of his career and is trying not to fall into the abyss. He has to hold the line as long as possible and then some. Every Repug governor is watching him and taking notes. Daniels in Indiana, Kasich in Ohio and Christie in New Jersey are loading their guns as I write this. The Oligarchy starts now.

The new crop of Repugs, the Teabaggers, and Wall Street all want blood. There's no room for civility here. They are greedy, liberal-hating assholes and are damned proud of it. They have mouthpieces like Hannity, Limbaugh, and Beck stir up the base. Frank Luntz, Breibart, and Fox News keep the message pure and the Koch Bros. pump the necessary funds into the entire process. The ignorant base of the GOP laps this shit up like feeding time at the fish hatchery.

And why not? That's what they've been trained to do. Years of manipulation by the Right Wing have produced a huge element of ignorant, scared and angry people. When Carter took office, it gave the Right Wing Machine, the perfect opportunity to lay down the foundation of this movement. Carter's liberalism stoked the emotions enough to give seed to it. The fertilizer was Ronald Reagan and that's no metaphor.

Lee Atwater's spawn Karl Rove, Luntz, Limbaugh, and a host of others have spent the last 20 years crafting this movement toward a set of goals: the whole sale dismantling of the Democratic Party, rescind and reverse every progressive statute on the books and concentrating power in the hands of a few conservative corporate managers (ie: overlords) Just look at the what they've been up to lately:

1. they've voted to defund Planned Parenthood (defunding is a chickenshit way of destroying a law without actually voting it down. Take away its funding and it can't be enforced)
2. they've begun efforts to defund the health care law.
3. they're trying to defund NPR.
4. they're trying to defund financial reform. Let the bastards on Wall St. have our cake and eat it too.
5. They're trying to defund the EPA. It's anti-business to force corporations to produce safe and non-toxic products. Let the market decide who lives and dies.

There are many more. Basically, every progressive cause of the last 40 years is targeted. They want it all. NO discussion, NO compromise, NO stepping back. NO negotiation unless its to cede your position. Take a good long look at this and tell me it isn't the beginning of the end. I see the seeds of fascism scattered here and some of them are starting to sprout.

(from the World Dictionary...)

Fascism:
A form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation
with community decline, humiliation or victimhood and by
compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-
based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy
but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons
democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and
without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing
and external expansion." [Robert O. Paxton, "The Anatomy of
Fascism," 2004]

Perhaps this is a new form of fascism, one that adds to the Italian model but in American clothes. Either way, this is not a time to sit and watch. President Obama and the rest of the Democrats have to abandon this folly of trying to negotiate and compromise with the Repugs. We have to be just as hard nosed and resolved as they. We have the issues, we have the facts. This isn't about 'win - win', it's about survival. The only reason Walker is doing this now is because he's sure he can get away with it. He's betting his career on the marshmallow spine of the Democrats and expects to win big. Daniels, Christie, and Kasich are also pushing their bets into the pot.

Do we have it? Is it going to be another blow, another shot to the gut all in the name of 'compromise'? Are unions going to be sacrificed in order for Obama to keep the Repugs from getting mad at him?

I'm clueless on how this is going to turn out. I'm the last one to place a bet on anything. My track record on such things is horrible. But the stakes are high, damn high, so high that every progressive voice in this country needs to be shouting at the top of their lungs at it. Failure here will bring failure elsewhere.

The line in the sand happens now, not next month or next year but right fucking now.

On Wisconsin!

So Mote it Be,
David A.

Egypt, the Middle East, and YOU!

Things are getting very interesting out in Egypt. Well, for that matter all across the Middle East. Seems we are witness to a great bit of human history here and I, for one, don't want to miss any of it.

Truth be told, I hope it catches on everywhere... especially here!

Human beings have a genetic need to be free. We are a natural conundrum. Solitary creatures who crave the company of our own kind. That said, we are lazy bastards. We allow the loudest amongst us determine what direction we turn. Thankfully, the smartest ones have prevailed and we haven't gone extinct - but not for the want of trying. How many times has humanity taken itself to the brink of extinction only to back away at the last minute? Too many to count, I'm afraid.

I guess we are also lucky bastards.

Here in America, we face a threat quite similar to the one in Egypt. But, where are the protests? Why aren't millions of Americans crowding the streets of Washington or New York calling for the heads of those who pound at the nails of our coffins? What will be the trigger that will set off the American people to take to the streets?

I'm old enough to remember the protests of the 60's and 70's. I remember the tears shed for the four students killed at Kent State in 1970. I lived in a rural town that wasn't completely cut off from the events unfolding in the bigger cities. At my school (Catholic parochial) there were VISTA volunteers, young college students, who wept for those in Ohio. The discussion that followed and the Christian teachings of the nuns had a profound effect on me. I learned how to see through the rhetoric and embrace the humanity of the moment. I also remember the cold, heartless people who, when hearing about Kent State, cheered and said that was a 'good start'. It was my first exposure to the hate-filled mind of the conservative.

We've come full circle. We see the Egyptians experience their own Kent State. It could be their Valley Forge too.

It's a damn shame it's only happening in the Middle East. Because of eight years of the corrupt policies of a Republican president and corporatist Congress, America has nothing to say. Our words ring hollow in the ears of the Egyptian people. We sit next to Mubarak on his precipice. Lessons of our struggles against oppression, our history in defense of liberty and justice go unlearned because of the cozy partnership our government had with a cruel and hated Mubarak. President Obama can make the most inspiring and patriotic call for democracy and liberty for the Egyptian people and no one will listen. All they see is the hand of our government on the shoulder of Hosni Mubarak as he stands on the throat of his own people.

After living through the last 30 years, I'm embarrassed to say that we have nothing to teach those who seek freedom.

In nature, all things change. If the environment gets too toxic, you adapt. Either you learn to live with the toxicity or you filter it out and make the environment healthy again. Or you die. It's that simple. Evolve or die. No one is immune to this, whether you believe in it or not. The choice is unavoidable.

Heads or Tails?

So Mote It Be,
David A.

This has to end now...

I'm partly responsible. I'm no Glenn Beck nor am I Bill O'Reilly but I have made some comments recently that suggest giving right wingers some of what they've been giving us. I have suggested, even if only as metaphor or as conditional of something else, that we strike back at these purveyors of hate and ignorance in ways that could be seen as violent. That is wrong. I know this, the belief that violence is wrong is part of me and yet, I let the toxin of hate and anger seep in to take control of who I am and what I say. I could never act on an angry comment or do violence to someone who just has an opposing view but I have allowed such thoughts to enter my mind. That too is wrong. But I'm not going to remove or sanitize my site of all references to such things or make believe that I am not the person who made those comments. I am the same person, I wrote them and I take any blame and/or credit for them. No need to Google cache anything I said.

Where do we go from here? The climate is calm because the shock is still reverberating across the country. A well liked, Democratic congresswoman, her aide and many others were shot in Tucson yesterday. Six people, as of this entry, have died from their wounds, among them a nine year old girl. A child who just stopped by because she had never met a congressperson before and her dad thought it would be cool. The gunman may have had an accomplice but they're not sure. They are looking for a 'person of interest'. That too is problematic because until the facts are out, we don't know who this guy is or what he was doing. He could just be an innocent bystander that happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. Sucks to be him. His life is over. If he is innocent, the media will hound him until he gives one of them an exclusive interview that will totally wreck his life. That's the way it works now in this country. To hell with your rights. To hell with your motives. If you are news, you are toast.

I would like to place all the blame on the media for this but I can't do that. The media is the drug dealer, we are the addicts. They deliver the goods that we crave and keep it coming night and day. We can't say no because we don't want to. We are hooked as bad as any junkie. If it's not Beck's ranting or O'Reilly's sanctimonious screeches, it's the whole of Fox News. But it is also MSNBC and CNN. It's also NPR and the New York Times. It's Time Magazine and Newsweek, the National Enquirer and Weekly World News. And it is also Channel 5 in Seattle or Channel 6 in Spokane. It's the Fox affiliates and others. And I haven't even gotten to Rush Limbaugh and his radio ilk. It's frustrating to see our media rally around those who 'shoot' off their mouths but never condemn nor allow others to condemn those remarks. They consider it quaint or harmless or something small and easily dismissed. Apparently, it's not.

Let the false equivalencies begin.

The talking heads are already out denouncing the attack with calls for 'both the right and the left' to give up their vitriol of hate and fearmongering. Bullshit! The amount of hatred and vitriol aimed squarely at the President and Democrats has been off the charts since the election of 2008. The Tea Party was created by Fox News corporate interests to deliver that hatred to town halls, gun shows and the ballot box. They bring on every right wing mouth breather to condemn Obama's latest adventure but never seem to have time to hear from the other side. But when tragedy strikes they're quick to bring liberals into the same vile sewer as the wingers in their condemnation.

Bring it. Show me where a liberal or a progressive has made comments as incendiary as Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. So you point at Keith Olbermann? He's loud and obnoxious but hardly vitriolic. He's come out against the hate and the ignorance and has allowed his own anger to shape his words but he is hardly in the same league as Limbaugh and Beck. Olbermann has a special comment today citing some of his own rhetoric as harmful and apologized. Where is Glenn Beck's apology and when is the media going to ask for it? The reality is that any apology from Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh will be coming just two weeks short of never. They're too busy scrubbing their sites of anything that could be used to incriminate them.

I hesitate to suggest this so soon after the attack. It reeks of taking advantage of a tragedy that should be solemn and treated with the utmost respect and consolation. But in light of the rash of attacks that have happened in the past few years, we no longer have that time. It is in memory of those who died and were injured in Tucson that I call for every Democrat or Progressive that appears on any media to repudiate violence and those who foster it... by calling out Fox News by name.

Condemn the attacks and bring the focus back to Fox. Remind viewers of past attacks then bring it back to Fox. Mention the Tea Party and their 'Second Amendment Solutions' then tell folks where all that started - Fox News. This isn't an attempt to destroy Fox. They would surely survive this but it might turn the tide back to real reporting. Fox News drives the tone of broadcast journalism today. They have no right to. They tap into the ignorance and fear of the populace and exploit it for profit. Other news outlets have noticed this and emulate the narrative so they can enjoy some of that profit too.

True journalism dies as Fox News dances on its grave. If the Democrats and liberal pundits brought the fight directly to Fox News, the other stations would see an opening and take advantage. Fox News will become the national symbol of violent rhetoric and hate speech which, in turn, could drive some of the more reasonable of their audience to seek alternate places to get their news. Other news outlets will see the shifting sands and offer something different to bring that audience to them. We could conceivably bring an end to the climate of fear by shaming those who profit from it. But do we have the courage? Do our pundits and leaders have the intestinal fortitude to take on the Goliath Fox News. Do we have a David among the sheep?

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones yesterday. To the parents of the young lady, Christina-Taylor Green, who showed so much promise and energy in her too short life and to the family of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was recently reelected by her district because of her dedication to her constituents and her country. May she and the other injured people recover completely and may the Goddess guide and protect the souls of those who died as they journey to that which lies ahead.

If we don't stop this now, we will be back here again saying the same things about other good people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I've said in the past that my heart weeps for my country and what hatred has done to her. Now my tears have names.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Just in case you've forgotten...

b beat it!

piss-ant

1. n.
   a wretched and worthless person. (Often objectionable.) : Look, you silly pissant, beat it!
2. mod.
   worthless. (Often objectionable.) : I don't want this little pissant piece of pie. Give me a real piece.

Read this from the guys at Alternate Brain....

So Mote It Be...
David A.

Sanity in Washington! Martha, get the gun!

God, this woman gives me shivers. I've never read about such a brilliant person, outside of fiction, in my life. Jesus, she should be President!

Elizabeth Warren is the only voice of sanity and reason in Washington today. No DCspeak, no doublethink or dancing around the issue, she puts it right down in plain fucking English. She met with the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade lobby representing banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, for a luncheon on Wednesday.

The first major speech since her appointment as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to Treasury, she picks a hostile environment. Right out of the gate she leaps into the lion's den!

Firedoglake's David Dayen plays it out for us in a post today.

She offered a vision of an agency that would not only write new rules for the entire industry, but consolidate and even eliminate existing ones. But instead of an approach based on individual rules (though she vowed to prohibit unfair practices and increase disclosure to the consumer), Warren highlighted an approach based on principles, a vision for how financial services regulation should work. This principles-based approach is actually something the Financial Services Roundtable proposed back in 2007, though I doubt they envision it the same way as Warren.

Here’s how she described it. “Instead of creating a regulatory thicket of ‘thou shalt nots,’” she said, “and instead of using ever more complex disclosures that drive up costs for lenders and provide little help for consumers, let’s measure our success with simple questions. Your first principle is ‘Fair treatment for consumers.’ I’ll paraphrase your explanation of how to tell if that principle has been met: Can customers understand the product, figure out the costs and risks, and compare products in the marketplace? Regulators should be aiming toward the goals you laid out.”

Warren used the example of a credit card agreement. Customers, she said, “should be able to understand the deal, assess the costs and risks, and compare one card to another.” She valued short agreements with basic, easy-to-understand information contained therein, like the interest rate, the penalty terms and any reward offers, that could be read and comprehended in about four minutes.

Any person who can't see how great this lady is should be cast out on an ice floe.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Hatred, a new American family value?

Hatred is easy. Hatred requires no thought, no research, no hard decisions. It just needs you to be angry and ignorant.

Americans are mentally lazy. Oh, they can work their asses off at their job, in their homes and in their recreation but within their brains, they've taken a nap. They don't want to think about the hard stuff like politics and issues and shit happening on the other side of the world. That stuff is hard so they outsource the decision making to others.

Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh provide an easy place for those decisions to be made. In return, they give these people a place to voice their anger and to lay blame for all the shit happening in their lives. No need to look at the facts because Beck and Limbaugh will provide them too.

Once upon a time, the average American citizen was a person of reasonable intellect. He fought in the big wars, came home to college, got a good job in the big factories, made a decent living and gave back to the community. He/She raised their kids to be wary of strangers but give people a chance to prove themselves. This is called progress.

But you can't get stinking rich off the ignorance of people if the country trends progressive. Enter the GOP.

From the administration of Herbert Hoover to the 'Contract on America' of Newt Gingrich, Republicans have taken steps to keep Americans from realizing their potential. To the Republican mind, 'Progress' is backward thinking. To be progressive is to be anti-American, an enemy bent on destroying the country and killing puppies for sport. To arrive at this thinking, they've skillfully crafted campaigns of ignorance and name calling, fomenting hatred of those who are different and fostering suspicion of everything that doesn't fit their narrow view of what's right. Hatred has found its champion.

The drumbeat has been loud and constant. The first sounds came from Barry Goldwater's campaign in 1964 but failed to gather the storm. Lessons were learned and methods were changed. When Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, they had their man. The drum beat of hatred and ignorance had found its orchestra.

Now, in 2010, we live with the drum beat constant in our ears. The Media has been beaten down to where they follow the beat on every broadcast, every page, every story. Not an issue goes by where the Media doesn't frame each report through the lens of the Republican hate machine.

We have enemies abroad that seek to do us harm. They attacked us and have taken lives here at home and in the deserts of the Middle East. They don't number that many, not as many as we would assume considering the casualties they've inflicted upon us. Considering the scope of what we've been fighting, the prospects of victory seem simple but frustratingly out of reach. Our enemies attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001 for reasons that seem bullshit on the surface but still knocked us on our ass. We had placed troops in Saudi Arabia at the behest of the Saudi government much to the consternation of the radicals in the Muslim faith. Saudi Arabia is their holy land. Would Catholics like the government of Iran to send troops to set up shop in the Vatican? Would the Baptists sit by and allow Libyan troops in Lynchburg, VA?

This doesn't validate their reasoning, nor does it absolve the radicals from their crimes against humanity. It just exists as evidence of what they believed.

Our response was swift but got off track almost immediately. Instead of attacking Al-Qaeda, we attacked Islam. The Republicans took the worst terrorist attack against Americans on American soil and perverted it to attack people who were merely of another faith, different but an easy target. They really held no animosity at Muslims but saw an opportunity to get stinking rich from the drum beat of hatred and ignorance they controlled. Start a war against Iraq, a country not involved in the 9/11 attacks but home to a lot of oil and a ready villain in Saddam Hussein. Our war in Afghanistan, which was in response to the attacks was placed on the back burner, even when we were so very close to catching the prize - Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, himself.

For eight years, the administration of President George W. Bush, went to extraordinary means to craft the drum beat, make it louder and more intense. We saw Islamic enemies in every crowd, behind every tree, in every Mini-Mart. Violence against innocent people, immigrants and Americans alike, who followed Islam rose considerably. The mealy mouthed Bush went on the air to tell people that not all Muslims were evil but his words were shallow and weak, never intended to silence the drum beat. They were only intended to frame the issue and provide cover for the Republicans in the campaign of hatred and fear. Using this hatred, the Republican Party and their allies profited big time. Billions of dollars found their way into the open arms of those who beat the drums the loudest.

Now, we sit here on the raggedy edge of this campaign. Nothing Progressives have done since the election of Barack Obama has quelled the hatred. The Media still cowers in fear of going up against the drum beat. They drank deep from the kool-aid and won't do anything to anger the GOP hate machine. Without the Media, our words of hope and cooperation fall on deaf ears and do nothing but give the Republicans fodder to frame us as naive or worse collaborators with the enemy.

Ignorance and fear are not new to humanity, nor will they be leaving us very soon. Gather more than five people together and soon ignorance will rear its ugly head. Ignorance in humanity is as natural as taking a dump, but just as we've learned not to take a dump anywhere we please, we can learn not to dump our ignorance around as well.

Stupid comes naturally, you have to learn not to be. And, unfortunately, that's too hard for some Americans.

Update: One Fly has commented that it's not 'some' of them, it's more than we realize and they are proud of their stupidity. I absolutely agree. A stone is a stone and will never be a fish. There are some folks that will always be a stone - cold, hard, incapable of moving, only occupying space until gravity and time wear them down.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Hempfest is Coming! Aug. 21 & 22

It's August again and soon the eyes, ears and air passages of hopeful hempsters will be on Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park. Hempfest, the world's largest festival of all things cannabis, will be held on Saturday, the 21st and Sunday the 22nd.

I will be there, as will nearly 250,000 kind folks. (I'll be the one in the gray ponytail!) I hope to get more pictures up than I did last year. I worked for the event so my time was limited, not to mention the crowds.

This year we're as close as we've ever come to legalization. California has an initiative (Prop. 19) on the ballot as well as numerous medical marijuana referendums in other states.

I'll have more in the future but until then, here's a great new cartoon from NORML that tells a story.



See you at the Faire!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

More Spine Needed At White House

To add my voice to the clamor over the force resignation of Shirley Sherrod. The worst part of this isn't what Breibart did or what Fox News reported, you expect that crap from them. But the speed at which the Obama Administration bought into the lie without a whisper of investigation. They almost forced her off the road to resign, via Blackberry, as she was heading back to Georgia.

When the dust cleared, it came out that Breibart slipped another mickey to the Feds. Just like his bullshit over ACORN, he crafted a little video that caused everyone in the Administration to crap themselves. Now that new information and the complete, unedited video has surfaced, the Obama Administration stands alone, looking foolish, in need of new underwear.

I'm not sure Ms. Sherrod should take her job back if it's offered. The NAACP, which had originally blasted her as well, came out immediately with an apology and personal phone call from their president. They admit they acted rashly and bought into a lie from Fox News.

"A lie from Fox News" - Gee, ya think?

I wrote a diary at the Daily Kos titled "President Obama is a Coward". That was a cheap shot at the president, I admit it. but I stand by what I said within.

Here it is in its entirety:

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Wipeout!

I'm not usually one to get star struck. Hell, I rarely find myself anywhere a self respecting 'celebrity' would want to be seen. So, I have to relate this rare event from yesterday.

I work at a well known shipping place that also has a few copy machines. One of my co-workers comes running up to me and hands me an orange guitar pick. What? What the hell is this for?

"It's from Don. He gave it to us for a job well done!"

I look at the guitar pick then look at the old dude who gave it up. At first, I didn't recognize him. I'm used to seeing him at least 40 years younger on a few well worn album covers. Then the name on the pick comes into view. It's Don Wilson, one of the founding members of the Ventures.

Jesus Christ on a Corn Dog! Walk, Don't Run, Theme from Hawaii Five-0, Wipeout... some of the best goddamn music in the whole freaking universe!

I gotta say, even this old hippie was a little star struck. I went over and thanked him for the token and chatted for a bit. Seems they're going to be playing at the Snoqualmie Casino on Nov. 11.

I think I just might make that show.

Enjoy a few of their best!

Damn, that's good music!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Teabagger Loses His Bag

This is schadenfreude....

Man accidentally shoots self in testicles

KOMO-TV STAFF

A man was shot in the testicles Sunday afternoon after a gun in his waistband accidentally discharged, police said.

Hee!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Show me your papers

You know, there are certain places on this Big Blue Marble that I have no interest in visiting. I hear from friends and neighbors about their hometowns and wonder what those places are like and, for the most part, would love to experience them personally. But some spots just scream out "no fucking way!"

Places like Detroit, or Mozambique, or most of Texas. But I would spend my entire vacation in those spots long before I ever go to Arizona.

Fuck those racist assholes.

My response...

Gogol Bordello - Immigraniada

So Mote It Be,
David A.

What year is it again?

Sometimes you just have to stop and shake your head at the sheer arrogance of the Repugs.

"Miss. county schools ordered to comply
with desegregation order"

This follows their esteemed governor's moronic response to Virginia Gov. McDonell's self-screwed proclamation with his own Confederate History Month Commemoration.
That bitch is about a couple of clowns short of a full circus. To refresh one's memories, he also stood tall as the head of the Republican Party back when Dubya was in full bloom.

And the South will rise again...
...like sewage from a broken septic tank.

These bastards just can't get over losing.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

President Obama is NOT a Coward

Barack Obama is no coward. Just looking at a few things he's done in his life can tell you that beyond a doubt.

My diary at Daily Kos was a response to the cowardice I see in his administration, not in him personally. However, he's in charge and the buck stops with him, though I should not have used the word 'coward' to vent my anger at the lack of courage coming from the White House.

The Obama Administration is not as progressive as I would like it to be. President Obama is right of center himself. It would be foolish of me to think that he would represent all of the same things I do as a progressive. However, I feel he needs to be. His administration is under the false impression that America wants to be more like Glenn Beck than Howard Dean. Even when shown proof that the American people want more progressive action, the Obama Administration still insists on leaning to the right.

Obama has a win with the Health Care Reform Act but the law is incomplete and falls far short of bringing fairness and balance to our health care problem. Expanding Medicare to allow buy-ins is one way to achieve this goal, something he is against. For too long, we have catered and groveled before the for-profit health care industry. We've allowed this bullshit to continue because our leaders have bought into the whole 'profit before people' crap the GOP's been spilling since the bad ol' days of Ronnie Reagan.

Capitalism is as old and decrepit as communism. Communism crumbled under its own weight because people can't be trusted to be reasonable. If you put that much power in the hands of a few men, those men will become corrupt sure as rain in Seattle. Capitalism is on a different wavelength but still falls under the same premise. Put that much power in the hands of a few companies and those companies, and by default their CEO's, will become corrupt.

Years of oppression came to an end in the Soviet Union because the people finally saw what was happening to them. In 1976, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played a concert in the Soviet Union to a television audience of about 145 million people. This allowed the folks to see how life was outside the fences. What followed was years of black market items like Levi's, rock music, and other Western goodies coming across the border. Soviet citizens saw what it was really like outside, not the bullshit propaganda the Politburo had been feeding them for 60 years. It was the beginning of the end of the USSR.

It's the 21st Century and here in America, we are having our own eye opener. The progressive movement is seeing what the last 60 years of rampant corporate growth with little regulation has done. We have banks engaging in criminal behavior that suck the life out of millions of homeowners with little recourse other than a gracious influx of new, taxpayer supplied, cash. You see, they're 'too big to fail'. The health insurance industry laughs in the face of the Democrats as they lobby and get their piece of the Health Reform pie, leaving only crumbs for the people the law is supposed to help.

The Soviet Union refused to see the changes happening in the 70's and 80's. They held tight to the old Lenin and Stalin bullshit to the very end when the people finally had had enough. Now, the Soviet Union is no more.

Will the Obama administration open its eyes and see which way the wind is blowing or will we have to endure another president who can only see as far as Wall Street?

Aren't we the people too big to fail?

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Remind me not to enter the lion's den....

...wearing bacon pajamas.

I posted a diary on Kos today. After basking in anger and disappointment over the lack of backbone from the Obama Administration, I took it upon myself to cast a metaphoric stone in his direction.

It was titled 'President Obama is a Coward'.

I'm lucky I got out with the hair still on my balls.

The last diary I posted got a grand total of 2 comments. The one before was a huge hit at seven comments.

As of this posting, I have 186 flaming hot, radioactive comments burning a hole in the back of my head.

Goodness! Do you think I struck a nerve?

I'm working on a more reasonable response but until then, enjoy the fireworks!

So Mote It Be (for now!),
David A.

It is to laugh

Maybe I'm a couple of buses behind the rest of you but I got this link today and it almost made me spit out my perfectly made vanilla cuppa.

Bluegal, over at Crooks and Liars, laid upon the masses one of her awesome graphics of Michael Steele and some GOP ho's. Then she set down a challenge to another site:
Hot Chicks With Douchebags.

Go there NOW!

But swallow your sip of joe first!

So Mote It Be,
David A.

Salami, Salami, Bologna...

(title was from an old Popeye cartoon)
Just finished the first batch of Salami today. I tried to smoke some yesterday and succeeded in welcoming the local fire dept to my apartment bldg. My upstairs neighbor had his windows and his front door open which allowed the smoke from my salami get into the hallways - setting off the fire alarm.

My luck... I have neighbors burning steaks and chicken wings on their barbecues all summer long and no alarm. I try to lightly smoke 5 rolls of salami and all Hell breaks loose. Luckily, the management is treating this as an accident and won't fine me ($250!). Next time I'll use less apple wood and be more attentive. As long as the dude upstairs isn't airing out his crib.

At least the firemen were cool. They commented that it smelled good and said the next time I set off the alarm, have some already done for samples. That's no problem but the $250 dollars is a bit steep to try this again.

Anyway, I used the oven for the remaining 14 hours of baking. I set the oven @ 175 to 200 degrees and bake the rolls for 14 to 16 hours.

(pepper crust hot garlic salami)

This sample is a bit early for me. It tastes great but needs to set up a couple of days in the fridge. Then I wrap the rolls up in plastic wrap, then foil and freeze for the big family get together in April - Opening Day of fishing season!

I have one more batch to make - pepperoni. This will be a real test of my talents because my past attempts came up short. I have trouble with the consistency. It's all good. This particular recipe is rather warm and goes great with a sharp cheddar or Havarti.

So Mote It Be,
David A.

A gauntlet has been secured

In response to the new CA state flag as posted by Gordon @ Alternate Brain

this is just a quick one...I'm just heading out to the coal mine and will be making a few adjustments over the weekend.

David A.